How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
114/400

concepts were true, they would be equally valid for hunger and thirst or the desire to breathe, secrete bile, or excrete waste products. Each of these physiological functions causes disturbances in the body-mind balance. It is no more reasonable to believe that painting a land¬ scape is a sublimation of a repressed sexuality than it is to believe that a violin concerto is the direct result of constipation. No one ever painted a great painting because he was prevented from drinking the normal amount of water needed by his body for the continuation of life. 'There is no substitute jor, and no sublimation of, sex. We do not need this theory to explain man’s creative activity, especially when investigation shows that some of the most creative geniuses of all time have lived a thoroughly adequate sexual life. The Need for Creative Compensations The necessity of developing some internal compensa¬ tions is the greater in our machine age because there are so few people whose work and social relations give them a real sense of “ belonging ” to their community. If you spend your day turning out financial statements, thread¬ ing bolts in a motor-car factory, teaching children the mysteries of fractions and decimals, or even selling life insurance, the end of the day may find you a few shillings richer, but you have hardly lived a very thrilling day. The more dramatic professions are not open to everyone, but there is no man or woman who cannot find a hobby in some creative field which can make moments of leisure more interesting. Our civilization, designed to bring people closer together, often accomplishes the very antithesis of its goal, especially in our large cities. As a result of our technical advances you may easily hear on the wireless a running commentary on a boxing contest in New York, but there is an equal or greater chance that you have never seen the man who lives next- door. Neither our daily work nor our daily social contacts